Astrobot Posted August 5, 2015 Share Posted August 5, 2015 It's 72 degrees here at St. John Fisher, with cirrus clouds. First Take, with Skip Bayless and Stephen A Peterson (who thinks Kyle Orton is our QB; I'm sure he's heard about it on Twitter by now). EJ and Tyrod are playing catch. Matt Cassel was talking to QB coach on the way in. I got a salute from Karlos Williams on his way in. I've been a big fan since his Seminole days, and I ranked him 4th among all RBs in the draft as early as October of last year on the DraftTek positional rankings (Gurley, Gordon, Coleman were 1-2-3). I see BJ Larsen, John Conner, and Chris Manhertz on the sidelines. Manhertz will later catch his first pass as an NFLer; he's the Canisius grad who's 6-6. He'll make the practice squad, I think. It's a sparse crowd when they are doing calisthenics, but it fills to over 90% full by the first real action. Right after cal, they do KR, with Goodwin-Thigpen your best bets, with Darby and Harvin back there. Karlos Williams makes major points with Danny Crossman by recovering a "muffed" kick. I think it was a setup to see what the KR team would do, and Karlos fell on it in textbook style. Most of my evaluation today centers on (duh) the QBs. They did some read-option work today, draws, handoffs, "climbing the ladder" into the pocket, sideline throws, accuracy. The best throw in the first session was Tyrod, who was with the 2's. EJ had the most applause in the second session but Cassel had the best accuracy in the 3rd session. Manuel was most accurate in the 4th session but Tyrod had the most potential TDs. Tyrod had the most accurate passes in the 5th and 6th sessions. In 7 on 7 EJ came up big on accuracy but all had potential big plays (Cassel to Mulligan, EJ to Deonte Thompson, and Tyrod to FredEx. Simms did not see Hogan on his series who was wide open for the TD, opting to go for the short pass. In the next session, Tyrod and Simms were more accurate than EJ or Cassel. Tyrod and Cassel were most accurate in the final two sessions. Shaking it out statistically for the Big Three on a percentage completed basis (vs air, in 7 on 7 and 11 on 11), I got: Matt Cassel---91% ----43 completions, 1 too far or high, 2 behind or low, 1 flat-out miss, 6 big plays (20+ yds or TD) including a sweet threader to KArlos and one off a helmet to Dez. Tyrod Taylor---83%---33 completions, 5 too far or high, 1 behind or low, 1 flat-out miss, 11 big plays (20+ yds or TD) EJ Manuel---78%---38 completions, 4 too far or high, 2 behind or low, 5 flat-out miss, 2 big plays (20+ yds or TD), 1 fumble, 1 INT Comments: 1. Take the above with a grain of salt. They were installing a read-option which inflates statistics. 2. Mulligan, blocking TE, caught a few today. He was with the 1's at one point. 3. Cyril had time in there. 4. FredEx looks like he's full speed and uses his smarts setting up blocks whereas Karlos is 1-cut then punish the tackler. 5. Carrington knocked down an EJ pass. Hasn't lost that ability. 6. John Miller pulls quickly, reaching full speed rapidly and delivering hits on LBs or Safeties at 2nd level. 7. Incognito had the slobberknocker award for a block springing FredEx. 8. Clay's first catch as a Bill in practice was a likely TD. 9. Cassel seems to be the only one noticeably going through progressions. 10. John Conner FB is still walking gingerly. 11. AJ Tarpley broke up a sure TD to gragg thrown by Tyrod, which would have been 12 big plays for Tyrod. 12. Gay was hitting field goals today left and right. Hmmmm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eball Posted August 5, 2015 Share Posted August 5, 2015 Ranks, Rastro! In general, can you give your perception on how "comfortable" EJ looks out there? I know this isn't a perfect science. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KDIGGZ Posted August 5, 2015 Share Posted August 5, 2015 I think Karlos is going to be a favorite of the coaches and with Boobie out he's going to have a lot of opportunities to show what he can do! he's a physical type runner that this coaching staff loves Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhitewalkerInPhilly Posted August 5, 2015 Share Posted August 5, 2015 Hmm, thanks. At this point what are your impressions of Tyrod? From the outside it seems like he's never the worst or the best, but tends to light things up with big plays. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmotionallyUnstable Posted August 5, 2015 Share Posted August 5, 2015 Astro, you rock. Interesting break down of the QBs. If you had to pick one to start today, who would it be? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canadian Bills Fan Posted August 5, 2015 Share Posted August 5, 2015 Thanks Astro! CBF Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Wiz Posted August 5, 2015 Share Posted August 5, 2015 Hmm, thanks. At this point what are your impressions of Tyrod? From the outside it seems like he's never the worst or the best, but tends to light things up with big plays. Sounds the same to me. The thing that makes me nervous about him is all the scrambling I keep hearing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wazzu Bill Posted August 5, 2015 Share Posted August 5, 2015 You're the man Astro Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JÂy RÛßeÒ Posted August 5, 2015 Share Posted August 5, 2015 And how did Cassel look at the read option? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhitewalkerInPhilly Posted August 5, 2015 Share Posted August 5, 2015 Sounds the same to me. The thing that makes me nervous about him is all the scrambling I keep hearing. I'm actually less and less worried about the scrambling as time goes on. The O-line so far seems far and away better at run blocking that pass protection. If scrambling forces 8 or 9 men into the box I'll feel a lot better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeGOATski Posted August 5, 2015 Share Posted August 5, 2015 That's a good look at the QBs. awesome. Tyrod seems the most consistent from practice to practice, although he's mostly working with 2nd team. Not sure what to make of it. I can't wait for the scrimmage. Sounds the same to me. The thing that makes me nervous about him is all the scrambling I keep hearing. But we keep hearing about throws he makes after scrambling. Not much we can do, but wonder... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eball Posted August 5, 2015 Share Posted August 5, 2015 Astro, my concern regarding Taylor is whether or not he can effectively use the middle of the field. It seems all of his big plays are deep sideline throws. That stuff just isn't going to get it done against good defenses. Any thoughts on this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LB3 Posted August 5, 2015 Share Posted August 5, 2015 Thanks Astro! Always look forward to these. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Wiz Posted August 5, 2015 Share Posted August 5, 2015 That's a good look at the QBs. awesome. Tyrod seems the most consistent from practice to practice, although he's mostly working with 2nd team. Not sure what to make of it. I can't wait for the scrimmage. But we keep hearing about throws he makes after scrambling. Not much we can do, but wonder... I agree. I'm just worried that he gets happy feet of his first read isn't there or if he is going through his progressions and then making a move. If it's the latter, works for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
26CornerBlitz Posted August 5, 2015 Share Posted August 5, 2015 Danke sehr! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeGOATski Posted August 5, 2015 Share Posted August 5, 2015 I agree. I'm just worried that he gets happy feet of his first read isn't there or if he is going through his progressions and then making a move. If it's the latter, works for me. Yeah. Who's blocking for him, anyway? Are they running an aggressive or passive defense? How much time does he have to throw? These are the details and impressions I wish we could get from the media for all the QBs. We're basically just getting the stats from practice. There's no way of knowing whether or not they're making good decisions. Oh well. We know none of them are very accurate, so there's that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mead107 Posted August 5, 2015 Share Posted August 5, 2015 I want Simms to shine. Step up and be the man Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickelCity Posted August 5, 2015 Share Posted August 5, 2015 Astro, my concern regarding Taylor is whether or not he can effectively use the middle of the field. It seems all of his big plays are deep sideline throws. That stuff just isn't going to get it done against good defenses. Any thoughts on this? Very curious about Tyrod's intermediate game as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeGOATski Posted August 5, 2015 Share Posted August 5, 2015 I want Simms to shine. Step up and be the man But then his dad would be hanging around the Bills more often....no thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhitewalkerInPhilly Posted August 5, 2015 Share Posted August 5, 2015 Very curious about Tyrod's intermediate game as well. I am increasingly. Even if it's only "meh" his run game and long ball make him interesting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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